Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw has been suspended for three games for his charge on Phoenix Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith, a punishment meted out Tuesday as the National Hockey League struggles to catch up with a weekend that was filled with violent playoff games.

Shaw blasted the goaltender in the second period of Saturday night’s game in Phoenix, a collision that sent Smith tumbling to the ice and has left his status uncertain for Game 3 of the Western Conference quarter-final series on Tuesday night. Shaw was given a five-minute charging major and a game misconduct on the play.

In a ruling released Tuesday afternoon, NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan seemed to take the most exception to how obvious a run it was, with no Coyotes player impeding or pushing Shaw anywhere near the goaltender.

Related

“There is no opposing player near Shaw, therefore, the path he takes to Smith is entirely up to him,” Shanahan said in his video ruling. “And the onus is entirely upon Shaw to make every effort to avoid the goalie.”

The factors Shanahan cited in his ruling included the fact Smith returned to the game and “suffered no apparent injury,” and that Shaw has not been the subject of prior supplemental discipline from the league.

He also recited Rule 42.1: “A goalkeeper is not ‘fair game’ just because he is outside the goal crease area. The appropriate penalty should be assessed in every case where an opposing player makes unnecessary contact with a goalkeeper … however, incidental contact, at the discretion of the referee, will be permitted when the goalkeeper is in the act of playing the puck outside his goal crease provided the attacking player has made a reasonable effort to avoid such contact.”

Shanahan has announced a handful of suspensions already in the first round of the post-season, including a three-game suspension leveled on New York Rangers forward Carl Hagelin for driving his elbow into the head of Ottawa Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson. Senators defenceman Matt Carkner was given a one-game suspension for an attack on a Rangers player.

Shanahan still has to render a verdict on a pair of hearings for Penguins forward James Neal, and another for Pittsburgh teammate Arron Asham. The punishment for Shaw could be seen as a step toward establishing the kind of deterring effect the league missed when it allowed Nashville defenceman Shea Weber to escape with a fine after driving an opponent’s head into the glass in Game 1 of the Predators’ series with Detroit.

“The contact Shaw makes with Smith is not incidental,” Shanahan says in his video. “Rather, it is a forceful blow delivered by Shaw’s shoulder to Smith’s chin. Also, in our opinion, Shaw does not make a reasonable effort to avoid such contact.”